Michigan

Reality check, paging Rashard Lewis

The way Rashard Lewis got bent out of shape following some comments made by Theo Ratliff is just comical. I mean, imagine, the audacity of Ratliff to call Orlando (second in the NBA in 3-pointers taken this season, mind you) a "finesse" team and to insinuate that Rashard's "hard" foul in Game 1, wasn't that hard at all?

Someone once told me that the truth can be liberating for some, infuriating for others.

Rashard falls into the latter group, because there's nothing that Ratliff said that wasn't true.

Orlando is a finesse team that's known for banging down 3-pointers, not banging down in the paint.

And we all know, playing "hard" for finesse teams like Orlando, isn't the same as it is for teams like Detroit.

So when a finesse team tries to get physical, well, it looks funny because everybody knows that's not how they play.

And this was the essence of Ratliff's comments yesterday.

The question to Ratliff had to do with the way Maxiell reacted to Rashard's foul on Ratliff in Game 1.

"There's no sense in guys coming to my rescue," Ratliff said yesterday. "I mean, that was Rashard Lewis. He tried to foul me hard, but he's a three-man (small forward). It was no big deal."

And Lewis' response, for those who didn't see it was this: "You can have a lot of energy in five minutes a game. What's he (Ratliff) played? 15 games. Tell him to come out and guard me."

But you see, that's the point.

Theo's smart enough to know he can't guard Rashard on the perimeter. He doesn't have the foot speed to keep up with him. But Ratliff is also wise enough to know that if they're both in the paint, Lewis isn't strong or defensive-minded enough to contend with him around the basket.

I talked with Chauncey Billups a few minutes ago about all this. And like most of us, he too found the whole thing amusing.

"I don't think Theo was being disrespectful at all," Billups said. "He was actually being honest. But Rashard, they gotta stand up and fight. I don't know when this became like a wrestling match, but we play the way that we play. We're not doing anything out of character. We're a grind-it-out basketball club, and they're not. There's nothing wrong with that. There are 3-point teams that win, but when you live and die with that shot, it makes it tough some nights."

I'm sure as this series moves on, we'll be coming back to this "finess vs. physical" argument.